In the game of golf, putting is a critical part of the game. A putter must be useful in a wide variety of golfing conditions, such as putting on long or uneven grass surfaces and slopping greens. A putter also must accommodate varying stances, swinging styles and strengths of golfers. Many attempts have been made to develop golf putters which accommodate the variety of golfing conditions and special needs of golf players. However, there remains a need for an improved putter.
One example of a prior art putter is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,739 to Garcia. The Garcia golf putter has a flat bottom portion and a curved forward surface which terminates in an elevated leading edge which imparts an over-spin to the golf ball when struck therewith. Because the Garcia putter has what is in effect a striking edge instead of a flat surface, uniform putting is believed more difficult. In addition, the vertical rear wall of the Garcia putter would tend to hang up on taller grass or non-uniformities in the surface, for example when putting from the fringe of the green, interfering with the putting stroke.
A golf putter having a flat bottom, vertical rear surface and a removable face bar is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,854 to White. The face bar is removed to expose an upper edge to impart an over-spin to the golf ball. White also discloses a semicircular sighting device with sight lines on the upper surface of his putter in a color which contrasts with the black putter head. White also suffers from drawbacks such as described above in connection with Garcia.
The use of removable weights in a golf club putter is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,832 to Ebbing. The patent teaches the use of weights to enable a player to experiment with different swing weights until the player arrives at a desired weight. The club head includes a removable face plate having a cavity formed on the inside thereof for receiving removable weights. The face plate has a striking surface formed with either a negative or positive pitch (loft) relative to the vertical.
A need remains for a versatile golf putter that is suitable for a variety of golfing conditions.